Live While You Can
by lpgohanfanatic
Summary: Being diagnosed with cancer is never easy, but especially if you're a demisaiyan who has survived life threatening injuries... But Goku will make it better. Right?
1. Chapter 1 Faint

Disclaimer: I will never in my wildest dreams own Dragonball Z.

Author's Note: Part of my big update! Correction, thanks to Wiggle Chicken for pointing this out: this is 7 months after Cell. Goku is alive. Enjoy!

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_Today's been a little weird. Lately I haven't been feeling well. I bruise easily and I tired after a short run. My appetite hasn't been what it used to be. Dad is starting to get suspicious. Last week, Goten hugged me on my arm and his fingerprints stayed on. What's wrong with me?_

_But I am not going to tell them. I'm sure it is nothing. So what's the point? Because if we do go to Bulma if I say I'm not feeling well, then it will be nothing at all. But still… Something just isn't right._

_Dad bruised me last week on the shoulder during a spar and it hasn't even started to heal. And my bruises are getting worse. I feel tired after a spar and have to catch my breath. Dad is going to take me to the doctor next week because Mom thinks I have and iron deficiency. Whatever that is._

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"Come on, Dad!" Gohan hoarsely yelled as he blocked one of his father's hard, fast punches. Goku grunted and kicked at Gohan in response to his challenge. Gohan turned out of the way just in time.

It was a gorgeous day. Birds were singing merrily in the trees. The sky was clear, nary a cloud. Gohan and Goku were training in a small clearing in the lively woods. They did that everyday.

Goku finally broke through Gohan's defense and landed a punch on his son's left shoulder. As he pulled away, he noticed that it left a huge, ugly bruise. Before Gohan could counter attack, Goku grabbed him and looked at his shoulder.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Gohan asked curiously. Goku never stopped a spar unless one of them was seriously injured, they couldn't continue, or it was lunchtime. And usually it was the last one.

"You're bruising easily. You're not supposed to. Something's wrong." Goku said knowingly. "No, I'm not. You just got lucky." Gohan replied, trying to jerk free, "It's no big deal."

Goku shook his head several times. "Oh yeah? Then what's this?" He rolled up the sleeve of his son's blue and orange fighting gi to reveal a large, black bruise on his other shoulder.

"I gave that to you a little over a week ago and it hasn't healed." Gohan shrugged nonchalantly. "I told you it's fine." Goku shook his head.

Gohan sighed, "Fine. You're right. I'm probably just a little under the weather. My appetite hasn't been the same. It's just a virus or something. Okay?"

Gohan wiggled out of Goku's hand and fell into his familiar fighting stance. Goku studied his son for a few moments before nodding.

He, too, sunk into a fighting stance. Goku launched off at Gohan. Gohan was slow to dodge, Goku noticed.

Gohan barely slid out of the way. Goku turned to face Gohan in mid-air and punched at him. Gohan caught his father's tense fist, inches from his face. Goku was quick to perceive that Gohan was struggling and panting even though they had only restarted a few seconds ago.

"That's it for today." Goku said to his son, retracting his fist. "Why?" Gohan tried to hide the fact that he was tired and short on breath. 

"You're not up to par, today. You're looking pale, anyway." Goku responded. Gohan sighed once more, "I guess. Though I don't see the point because of a harmless virus."

Goku chuckled softly and motioned for Gohan to follow him. Gohan nodded, still panting a little. He waited for Gohan to get in front of him, before walking. 

As they walked back to their home, Goku watched his son carefully. Gohan was breathing hard, though not as bad.

After they had eaten Chi-Chi's delicious roasted turkey dinner, Gohan walked upstairs to bathe and go to bed. He was exhausted. Chi-Chi and Goku watched as Gohan left the room, before expressing their concerns.

"Goku, I'm worried about Gohan. He's been really different. His appetite has been really small. Instead of eating twenty bowls of rice, he's only eating twelve. And last week, when Goten hugged him, his fingerprints stayed on him. He's a little pale and he sleeps later and later."

Chi-Chi looked worriedly at her husband. Goku nodded, "I noticed. When we both raced a few days ago, he ran out of breath in the beginning and struggled to finish."

Taking a breath, Goku continued, "And every time I hit him in a spar, he bruises easily and they take longer to heal. He looks so pale."

 Chi-Chi nodded her head as she placed her head on her tall husband's shoulder. "Goku… I'm worried."

"Chi-Chi, I'll take Gohan to the doctor next week. I'm sure that it's just an iron deficiency. Okay?"

Chi-Chi nodded, "Thank you Goku." Goku smiled at Chi-Chi, "Now we should get some rest." Chi-Chi smiled brightly and hugged Goku

The next morning, Goku and Chi-Chi had been awake for three hours and had eaten their pancakes already. Gohan was still asleep in his bed.

"Goku, he should be out of bed by now. It's two in the afternoon." Goku nodded, "Yeah." 

As he got up from the oak table to wake Gohan, Gohan entered the room. He looked very disoriented and dazed. Something was wrong with him.

"Gohan?" Goku started to walk to his dazed son. "I'm… sorry." Gohan barely managed to gasp out, before his dark eyes rolled back into his head and he fell forward.

Goku literally flew to his falling son, catching him a few centimeters from the hard, wooden floor.

Chi-Chi screamed and ran over to her family's side. Goku turned his son over onto his back. He quietly checked his son's vital signs. He found that Gohan was alive and breathing, but not responding.

He scooped Gohan up in his arms. "Chi-Chi, come on." Chi-Chi nodded and ran into Goten's room to get him. Chi-Chi ran back to Goku and they teleported to Tormai Hospital, the same hospital they had taken Chi-Chi a few hours into labor.   

Doctors immediately rushed to the fallen teenage boy. They grabbed Gohan from Goku and directed them into the ER. Goku followed along with Chi-Chi and Goten to the room.

"Mr. Son, we need to run some blood tests on your son." Goku nodded. They took a few samples of Gohan's blood from his elbow. Goku cringed a bit. Then they moved Gohan to the ICU until he woke up.

Shortly after moving him, Gohan woke. His eyes were cloudy and he was very groggy. "Gohan?" Gohan shifted his eyes tiredly to his father, mother, and sleeping brother.

After a few minutes, Gohan seemed to regain his senses and alertness. Gohan sat up slowly in his bed. Gohan looked down at his elbow where it was covered with a Band-Aid. He looked back at his father questioningly. "The doctors ran some tests." Gohan nodded.

"But what happened?" Gohan asked, still looking at his father. "You passed out. Now hold tight until we get the results back." Gohan yawned, "Okay." 

One hour passed. Then one hour became two hours. After the two hours of waiting, the doctor entered the room with a grave and serious look on his face. Something was terribly wrong.

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For all responses for Ch.2, look @ ch.3. Then read the others.

Mockingbird by Anshin 

_Summary: __Chapter 14 up! What if it had been Gohan that traveled back in time instead of Trunks? Would anything have changed? Would everything? This starts during the Trunks special, so if you haven't seen it, you'll be lost. Full summary inside._

_Opinion: This is a really good story. Especially if you like Gohan torture. But the only drawback is that she doesn't update fast. But out of ten she gets a 9.5. So go girl._

_Souless by blackberrymint_

_Summary:_ _Instead of just fainting after he defeats cell, Gohan goes into a coma and no one can bring him back except himself. But Gohan's most important part of himself has left his body will it return? Does it want to?_

_Opinion: This is also a good story. The chapters are a little short though. And like Anshin, she doesn't update fast. 9for you girl!_

Well that's it for now! 

DBZ Chick1


	2. Chapter 2 Diagnosis

Disclaimer: What's the point of this useless thing? Its only purpose is to take up space and time. So there you have it…

As I said…BIG UPDATE!

Live While You Can Chapter 2

            "I have the results from the blood test. It's unfortunately more than an iron deficiency and anemia. We diagnosed him with acute lymphoblastic leukemia." The entire family's eyes widened in surprise and shock. Goku's shocked gaze shifted from the fidgeting old doctor to his sick 11-year-old son. 

            Gohan's breaths were coming out in smothered gasps. Goku stood up slowly and walked over to his shaking son and wrapped his muscular arms around him.

            "Gohan. It's okay. We'll beat this. We will. Trust me. Now take a deep breath before you start hyperventilating." Goku's heart felt like tearing in two. Never before had he felt like this. He couldn't describe it. Hopelessness? Fear? Guilt? Despair? 

            His heroic son had cancer. The little boy who had saved him and so many others, so many times was sick. Not just a little cold or anything little. He was terminally ill. Gohan finally nodded and took some deep shuddering breaths. No wonder Gohan had been so tired lately.

            The doctor cleared his throat several times uncomfortably before continuing to explain his diagnosis. "Luckily, we caught this early in the first stage; this is also commonly known as the Development stage."

            Goku nodded slightly, motioning for the doctor to continue. "There are three stages, Development, Danger, Critical. Once the cancer has reached the lymph nodes, that is when we change to the Danger stage. After it has reached internal organs, we degrade to Danger and then we really can't help."

            Goku, Gohan, and Chi-Chi nodded; Gohan's a little slower than normal. "Now you need to admit him to the hospital today. We need to run more tests and monitor him." The doctor shifted his glasses and consulted his clipboard. "On Tuesday and Thursday, he will be given chemotherapy to help fight the cancer. Since today is Saturday, he will stay here until Thursday. After his chemotherapy on Thursday, he will be discharged. Then on the next Tuesday, he will need to be checked in 3 hours before his treatment, which we'll be at 10 o'clock. After 12 weeks of treatment, we will check his progress or retreat. And we will go from there. 

During chemo, he will lose…let see he's 110 pounds? He'll lose 50 pounds during chemo. He will also lose all of his hair. He will be extremely weak also. He probably won't be able to eat anything for the day after chemo. He will also be throwing up. Any questions?"    

            He looked around the room. Nobody responded. Goku still had Gohan in his thick arms; Chi-Chi was sobbing quietly to herself, while rocking Goten.

            "No? Mrs. Son, could you come with me to fill out the paperwork to admit your son?" Chi-Chi nodded, "Can we see after he's settled in?" The doctor nodded. Chi-Chi stood up and followed the doctor out of the room.

            After they had left the room, Goku finally spook. "Gohan. Look at me." Gohan kept his head buried in his father's chest. "Gohan, please." Goku's tone carried slightly a commanding tone with it, but still held his gentleness. Gohan slowly raised his head up to meet his father's gaze. "Son, we'll get through this. This is just a small detour. Okay?"

            Gohan stared at his father for a few unwavering moments. Then he numbly nodded. "I know you don't want to stay here for 7 days, but it's for the best. I'll get Piccolo to come, okay?" "Okay." Gohan's soft voice was a little hoarse.

            Two nurses came in a few seconds later. "Mr. Son, we need you to leave for a few minutes while we ready his room. Goku nodded solemnly, "I'll be right back Gohan." Goku left the room. 

            One of the nurses handed Gohan a light gray hospital gown. This one was covered in the back. Gohan took off his gi and slipped on the ugly piece of clothing. The nurses raised his bed up a little to be somewhat reclined. 

            They started Gohan on an I.V. to help start fighting his cancer. They placed an oxygen tank next to the bed and pulled out a small tube. They handed it to Gohan. The thin tube was clear, had two little pieces sticking out together to go into his nose, and hooked behind his ears and came back to the tank. They put him on oxygen so they could make sure he was breathing fine.

            "Okay, honey, you're all set." Gohan nodded. They left. Gohan looked around. He hated this. He wanted to get out. He was stuck in this bed. The door opened; his family walked in. Goku looked a little startled about the I.V. and the oxygen but relaxed. 

            "Gohan. I need to take Chi-Chi and Goten home. Then I'll get Piccolo. Okay?" Goku asked his son. "That's fine." Gohan really didn't have the strength to talk or move. Goku nodded and placed an arm around his wife. They disappeared.

            After dropping off his wife and infant, Goku teleported to Capsule Corp. Vegeta greeted him gruffly. "Kakarot, what do you want?" Vegeta looked around, noticing Gohan was not there. "And where's your oldest spawn?" Bulma came around the corner, "Goku! Hi! What are you doing here?" 

            "I have to tell you something… Gohan is sick." "So? He'll be better tomorrow." Vegeta snorted. "No. He's really sick. He has cancer." A look of shock passed over the Brief's faces. "Cancer?" Bulma whispered. 

            "Yes. He'll be okay though. We caught it early. He's in the hospital right now and will be until Thursday. He's going to have chemo on Tuesday and Thursday. I was wondering if you would come by today? He's kind of upset." 

            Goku let out his breath and looked at his friends. Even Vegeta was speechless. He had come to…care for Gohan, even if he was a hybrid. "Sure. We'll come by later this afternoon. Um…Goku…do you want me…to call everybody else for you?" Bulma asked hesitantly. 

            "I'll come too, Kakarot." It doesn't take a genius to guess who said that. Goku nodded at both of them, "Thanks. It's going to be a wild one for a while." Goku smiled slightly before locking onto Piccolo's ki and disappearing.

            Piccolo was deep in mediation when Goku appeared in front of him. Piccolo opened his eyes to stare at Goku. "Goku, what do you want?" Looking around, he noticed Gohan was not there. "Where's Gohan?" Goku took in a sharp breath, "The hospital."

            "What? Why?" "He has cancer. Leukemia. Thankfully, we caught it early. So he'll be okay. Gohan was wondering if you could come with me to visit him? He has to be in the hospital until Thursday."

            Piccolo took a deep breath trying to comprehend what Goku just said. "…Yeah. Take me to him. I'll stay with him." Goku nodded, "That would mean a lot to him." Goku placed one hand on Piccolo, before locking onto Gohan's ki, noticing it was a little low. 

Back at the hospital, Gohan was laying in the bed, staring at the ceiling. He didn't want to think about anything; he thought he would he cry if he did. He was waiting for Goku to come back. Hopefully Piccolo would come. 

Okay, so this is not what I expected. Just Cancer, right? Damn it, who am I fooling? I was really shocked when the doctor said I have cancer. But I'll get through it. I hope. Dad will help me. He has too. 

            Just then, Piccolo and Goku showed up next to his bed. "We're back." Piccolo glanced down at his pupil, giving him a small smile. "Hey kid." "Hi Piccolo." Piccolo was quick to notice, Gohan was a little pale and his response was a bit winded. "Feeling okay?" Gohan gave a small laugh. "What do you think?"

            Gohan raised himself up a little before turning back to his father and friend. "Hey, Gohan, you should have seen Vegeta's face. I think the only time I've seen him have that much shock was when you first ascended." Gohan gave a little, weak laugh. "That bad, huh? I'll be sure to tease him."

            An uneasy silence settled in the room. Goku looked around, trying to find something to say. "Um…Gohan…um…Bulma and the others said they would be by tomorrow." Gohan nodded, "That's fine." 

            Before their conversation could continue, a nurse came in and told them to leave him alone so he could rest. Gohan scowled at the tall, blond nurse, but gave in when his father and Piccolo gave him a reassuring look. 

            Gohan lay back in his bed, before drifting off to sleep a few minutes later. Down in the lobby, Piccolo and Goku sat in the hard, plastic chairs. Goku held his head in his hands, while Piccolo watched him carefully.

            "Something wrong, Goku?" Piccolo asked the Saiyan. "Of course. I feel so hopeless. Even though Gohan is going to all right, I feel like this is my fault. I mean, I feel like I haven't been there for him." "What? Goku that doesn't make sense!" 

            "Piccolo, he started fighting when he was 5. And he fought Cell when he was 11. Boys his age shouldn't be doing that. Their father should be there, watching them grow up. I wasn't. Maybe I-."

            Piccolo was quick to cut him off. "Goku, he came to me once. I asked how he was doing since you weren't home yet from the fight with Frieza. He said fine. I noticed something was wrong, so I pried it out of him." Goku looked up.

            "He said it was about you. At first I thought he was mad at you, but he wasn't. He wanted to be the way you are. So carefree and happy. That's not all. He thought he got in the way during a battle, unlike you." "But he doesn't." "Don't worry, he's trying harder to train if you haven't notice." "Yeah." Goku lay back in the chair. "I think he's taking this better than I am."  

                The next few days passed by fairly quickly, without incident. Well, if you don't call throwing the hospital food out the window because they want you to eat it. Goku just brought Gohan pizza. He was quite happy. Now it's Tuesday.

            The nurses wheeled Gohan down a long corridor. He was not hooked up to any machine or oxygen. They had finally taken them off. Piccolo and Goku followed close behind. This was his first treatment.

            Gohan was little nervous, but Piccolo and Goku didn't bother telling him not to be. They were both nervous, themselves. "Sirs, you have to stay here. You can watch through the window." One of nurses held Goku and Piccolo back.

             Goku hesitated, but then nodded slowly, "Okay." They watched as the nurses placed Gohan on another bed. It retracted into a large tube machine. For an hour, they stood there watching Gohan receive his chemo.

            Afterwards, they placed him back on his bed and wheeled him back into this room. "You'll have to help him when he throws up. Here's the bin." They gave Goku a little plastic container. Goku nodded.

            Gohan was sound asleep in the bed, not moving in inch. His breaths came slowly, his chest rising and falling in a deep rhythmic beat. Only about 10 minutes into his peaceful rest, Gohan sat up and grabbed the bin from Goku. He bent over it and puked his guts out. Then he fell back down onto the feather soft pillow.

            Piccolo watched his student sadly, 'This is going to be a long day.'

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Well, how was that?! Did you like? I am trying to add more detail but it's going to take a while. Oh yeah, reviews…

LWUC Gohan-Reviews? You got two. 

C2@R Gohan-Now you feel what I feel. I got 3 reviews. But one was a flamer. 

IR Gohan-Don't make her cry, you'll never get her to shut up.

C2@R Gohan-To Camaro or whatever her name is, I don't care. But me and Dad!? You're insane. And if I cuss, that's my problem, so shut up.

DBZ Chick1-Um…can we do this story's reviews? Please?

LWUC Gohan-Okay, first we have…demonpenguin. I'll read your story later today. And yes, I hope I'll update Innocent Revenge soon.

IR Gohan-More torture, yeah.

C2@R Gohan-Shut up. Nobody was asking you.

^IR Gohan glares at C2@R Gohan^  

^Start bickering^

LWUC Gohan-Just ignore them, we also have Cute_kittty2. Thanks, tell your sister to review.

That's all for now!    


	3. Chapter 3 Ice Cream

Author's Note: Enjoy the third installment of Live While You Can. Joy. Review please.

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            Gohan lay on the bed, breathing softly. Goku and Piccolo kept a close eye on him. Chi-Chi was at home, nursing Goten and getting the living room ready for Gohan. The doctor had worn them that Gohan would not have much strength.

            The IV drip dropped medicine and nutrients into him, while he slept. Goku sighed; Gohan looked uncomfortable again. Suddenly he rose up. Goku grabbed the plastic, mustard yellow bin and held it in front of Gohan.

             Gohan threw up into the bed and then fell back onto the pillow. Goku took the bin to the bathroom to rinse it out. While standing in front of the sink, Goku stared at the counter, deep in thought. 

            _'Poor Gohan. He's never done anything to anybody and he gets sick.' _Goku thought sadly. Walking out, Gohan was snoring slightly, already asleep. Piccolo glanced up at Goku, before nodding toward the door.

            "Your friends are here." Goku nodded and slowly walked out of the room. Krillin and Yamcha were standing there. "Hey guys." Krillin ran up to Goku, "How's Gohan?" Goku shrugged, "Better. He's asleep."

            Yamcha asked, "What did the doctor say?" Goku took a deep breath, "He's got acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We caught it early in the Development stage. So he's taking treatments of chemo on Tuesday and Thursday."

            Krillin nodded, before asking, "Can we see him?" Goku thought for a moment, "Sure. But he's asleep." Goku motioned for them to follow him. Upon entering the room, they found Gohan throwing up again. Piccolo held the bin in one hand and rubbed Gohan's back with one.

            Gohan finished. Instead of falling back on his pillow, he sighed. "Finally awake?" Goku asked. Gohan nodded, before yawning. Piccolo smirked, "You better hurry up and get better, kid." Gohan nodded again, "I will." 

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            Gohan was sound asleep on the couch, curled up under two warm fuzzy blankets. He was snoring softly and drooling slightly. Goku watched as his eldest son slept peacefully. Gohan didn't have another chemo treatment for 3 days. 

            Gohan turned in his sleep and fell off the couch. Landing with a 'thud', he woke up with a start. Goku started laughing at him. Gohan glared at him, "That wasn't funny." Goku kept on laughing, before Gohan grabbed one of the pillows and threw it as hard as he could at him.

            Goku caught it easily. In return he barely tossed it back at Gohan. Gohan scowled. Goku was little surprised; Gohan was really cranky. Goku blinked before he was tackled. Gohan had used a lot of his strength to jump onto Goku.

            Goku toppled backwards, along with Gohan. Shaking his head, Goku looked down at Gohan. Gohan was either crying or raging mad, because he was shaking. It took a second before Gohan let out a huge outburst.

            "What'd I ever do to deserve this?! I didn't do anything! Now I'm stuck like this! I didn't do anything! Is it because I'm a failure?!" Gohan yelled. His last sentence was hushed as he erupted into tears. 

            Goku wrapped his arms around his crying son. Gohan grabbed onto him tightly. "Shh. Gohan. It's okay. You're not a failure. Don't even think that. Okay?" Gohan nodded slowly. "Now let's get up. I'll get you some ice cream. Just don't tell your mother."

            Gohan giggled slightly. Goku put him down on the couch and covered him. Gohan sat up against the back as Goku got his ice cream. Of course, Goku got some for him. He held two bowls in his hand and walked over to the couch.

            Motioning for Gohan to scoot over, Goku plopped over next to his son. "You'll get better. Trust me. Besides, what would I do without you?" Gohan shrugged, spoon in his mouth. 

            Goku laughed before starting on his. Goku gulped down his ice cream before Gohan was even halfway done. "You gonna eat that?!" Goku asked Gohan excitedly. Gohan rolled his eyes, "Yes. If you want more, then get up and get some."

            Goku shook his head, "There's none left. And besides your mother would find out." Gohan nodded, "Yay. But she wouldn't use it on me. Hey now I have an excuse." Goku frowned, "She can still hit me. Uh-oh."

            Gohan laughed, "You have no sympathy from me. You let me get hit too many times." Goku shook his head, "Hey you let Chi-Chi think that that fish ate you that time. You didn't come out until after I was nearly unconscious." 

            "I guess I forgot about that one. But you told Mom that I ate all the sugar when it was you. She nearly killed me. So you have no room to talk." Goku laughed, "I guess we both tried to get each other in trouble. Hey Gohan-." Goku turned to his son and found him half asleep.

            Goku smiled before laying Gohan down and covering him. _'Sleep well son.'_

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Now for the reviews:

            Trugeta-He will. Eventually…glad you like this story. Thanks!

            Carrie-I did.

            ShadowObscurity-lol. Nice review. Yeah, this is not the most original idea, but I wanted to do one of my style. Thanks!

            Frying Pan of Doom-I'm sorry! Is your father okay? Thanks, for liking my story. Hope your father is okay.

            Demonpenguin-thanks. I talked to you about this. Anyway, see you in Science.

            Rebel_cat-He's not going to die. Trust me. There's going to be a chapter dedicated to his wig. You'll like it. Thanks. 

            Cute_kitty_2-I'm not a fast updater. I'm sorry. I'll try to faster. Thanks!

            Wiggle_Chicken-I fixed it. I kind of forgot about that. Oops. Hope you like. 


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